Man Ray, “Rose Sélavy (Marcel Duchamp)”, 1921, (photography) on Wikipedia website
This is an example of Dada in photography. Rrose Sélavy was dadaist Marcel Duchamp’s pseudonym. This image is part of series of photographs taken by Man Ray in 1921, where Duchmp was dressed as a woman. Being dadaists, Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp wanted to shock. That is why they didn’t try to hide the fact that this photograph really represents a woman. They shocked the viewers, they were ironic and irrational. I think this example shows that dada art emphasised ideas not skills. I like this photograph’s concept but I am not sure about the result. It doesn’t provoke any huge reaction within me but in the 21th century there is not much left to shock us.
Public Toilets at Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester
I have chosen this example even though it is not an art object. Like dadaist Marcel Duchamp, I made a decision that it is an artwork. Dada used “ready mades” and was both shocking and irrational. I am using these toilets then as a “ready made”. Since these toilets appeared in Manchester people keep talking about them. At first they didn’t know what it was and nobody had ever seen anybody using it. For me they are like a dadaist joke, strange, shocking and “ready made” object. It also reminds me about Marcel Duchamp’ artwork “Fontaine” which really is a urinal. I think it is a superb example of dada design found in Manchester. I really enjoyed being a dada artist for those few minutes.
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